The present invention relates in general to methods and apparatus for wireless control of entertainment systems, and particularly to multiple wireless units providing user defined programming control.
There has been interest in controlling access to television programming for a number of years. The primary users of this type of technology are parents who wish to limit their children""s access to certain programming. With the increasing amount of available programming, however, viewers in general are looking for a convenient way to limit their selection to only the channels in which they are interested.
There have been several attempts to address this need. Conventional programming access control systems are incorporated into the television receiver or, in the case of cable television subscribers, in the cable converter box. U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,983, issued to Kwoh et al., describes programming control circuitry which may be located in a remote control device, the television itself, or an attached device such as a cable converter box.
The conventional systems permit the owner to program the television circuitry such that selected channels are blocked. Some systems block the entire channel, while others allow the owner to block out just certain blocks of time. One undesirable effect of these systems is that once a channel is blocked it is blocked for all viewers. A user can, in some systems, override channel restrictions by keying in a special code, although having to remember the code and key it in each time the viewer wants to select the restricted channel is in itself an inconvenience. What is needed is a means of restricting the programming access of certain users without impacting the viewing options for other users.
Another undesirable effect of blocking a channel in the television circuitry is that a channel-surfing viewer still passes through that channel even though the television signals on that channel are not displayed on the television monitor. One reason this is undesirable is, especially if there is more than one blocked channel, the viewer has to pass through inactive channels while scanning for programming to watch. Another reason is that the constant reminder that there are xe2x80x9cprohibitedxe2x80x9d channels may tempt the restricted viewer to try and exceed their allowable viewing boundaries. There is a need for a means for controlling viewing access on a viewer-by-viewer basis, such that each viewer sees only those channels they wish to or are allowed to see.
Access to television programming is controlled using a remote control device. Programming control circuitry, in one embodiment, is incorporated in the remote control device. This allows programming access to be user-specific, each viewer restricted according only to the programming controls embodied in the memory of the remote control device they are using. The method and apparatus of the invention thereby avoids the conventional limitation of establishing programming access which affects all viewers alike, allowing each user access to all programming to which they are allowed unaffected by other viewers"" restrictions.
According to one embodiment the present invention provides a method for controlling television programming a remote control device, wherein the remote control device comprises a user input interface, a processor, and a memory. The method comprises the steps of storing a unique user id in the memory of the remote control device, independently storing program control data in the memory of the remote control device for controlling television programming by remote control device, and independently controlling access to television programming through the remote control device according to the unique user id and program control data stored in the remote control device. In another embodiment the method controls television programming using two or more independent remote control devices, wherein each remote control device comprises a user input interface, a processor, and a memory.
A further embodiment of the present invention further comprises the step of verifying a master control user id, and upon successful verification allowing unlimited access, for a predetermined amount of time, to programming using the remote control device. According to another aspect of the method of controlling television programming, user input data requesting programming is compared to program control data stored in the remote control device, and if the input data matches then the user is denied access to the requested programming.
In another embodiment of the present invention a user is allowed to modify the program control data stored in the memory of the remote control device when the user inputs the proper user id and that user id is verified. In yet another embodiment independent user profile data is stored in a remote control device. The user profile data provides user-customizable access to programming via the remote control device. Each user establishes a personalized viewing environment through use of the user profiles. According to one embodiment the remote control device has one user profile which is active at all times. In another embodiment the remote control device may have one or more user profiles, any one user profile of which is activated by the user inputting a unique user id. Verification circuitry activates the user profile corresponding to the input user id if it matches the user id stored in association with the user profile. A further aspect of the present invention provides a system for controlling television programming, comprising a television receiver and a remote control device. The remote control device comprises a user input interface, a memory, means for storing a unique master control user id in the memory, means for storing program control data associated with the unique master control user id in the memory, and circuitry for controlling access to television programming according to the program control data.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a system for controlling television programming, comprising a television receiver and two or more remote control devices. Each remote control device comprises a user input interface, a memory, means for storing a unique master control user id in the memory, means for storing program control data associated with the unique master control user id in the memory, and circuitry for controlling access to television programming according to the program control data.
According to another aspect of the present invention the system for controlling television programming further comprises circuitry for comparing input entered through the user input interface to the program control data stored in the memory. Yet another embodiment comprises circuitry for adding, modifying, or deleting program control data stored in the memory. A further embodiment comprises means for storing a unique user id in the memory and means for storing user profile data associated with the unique user id in the memory. In this embodiment, the circuitry for controlling access to television programming further comprises circuitry for comparing input entered through the user input interface to the user profile data stored in the memory. In yet another aspect of the present invention each remote control device further comprises circuitry for adding, modifying, or deleting user profile data stored in the memory.